I write about disruptive ideas in science, technology and culture that change the future, the new discoveries in science and technology that change how we interact with ourselves, society and our planet.
My technology industry experience at IBM, Microsoft and Amazon includes work in account management, software testing management, localization editing and online content production. I have also worked as a consultant in the software and gaming technology space.
My work on technology, science and culture has appeared in publications such as Wired, Ars Technica and Massive Online Gamer, among others. For story ideas, requests to review new technologies or simply to get in touch, please feel free to email me at mpvenables@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google +.

Planetary Resources' Lewicki On The New Space Economy And The Second Space Race

Planetary Resources’ Kickstarter project was a rousing success. I wrote about their ARKYD Kickstarter launch event with Brent Spiner here. With nine days to go, the ARKYD Kickstarter has raised over $1 million, and is on its way towards its stretch goal of $2 million. The company recently announced some stretch goals for the final $2 million level of funding. It amounts to a hardware upgrade that adds “exoplanet transit detection capability by enhancing the telescope’s stability systems and dedicating time to monitor candidate star systems,” according to a recent blog entry on the company’s Kickstarter site. The upgrade also allows for “better measurement of the spin-properties of asteroids,” using this same exploratory capability.

“Exoplanets“ are planets that are located outside our solar system. The reason why there is such interest in them is because scientists are seeking a habitable planet, a “Biosphere 2″ that is similar to that of Earth. These targets of the ARKYD’s expanded exploratory capability are known as “transiting exoplanets,” and the pioneering research on exoplanet atmospheres, exoplanet interior composition and exoplanet biosignatures is being done by MIT’s Sara Seager.

It is the actual transit of the planet that sets off the eurekas in space scientists. A transiting exoplanet involves the planet’s crossing in front of its star. It is considered a bona fide “transit” when the brightness of a parent star dims for a short period of time, as the transiting planet passes in orbit in front of it. So far, researchers have confirmed 450 exoplanets that orbit nearby stars. It leaves one wondering, of course — how many exoplanet systems have Earth-like planets in them?

I caught up with Chris Lewicki, the company’s CEO in Seattle, with some specific questions about how Planetary Resources’ new model of hybrid crowdsourcing and crowfunding of the ARKYD project was going, and where it is headed from here.

Michael Venables: How does “making space accessible to everyone” and enabling “citizen scientists” translate to science awareness in general and STEM education programs in particular in the U.S.?

Chris Lewicki: With regards to exploration of space for the past 50 years, it has been supported by tax dollars and performed by the government. And then something that people watch other people do. And it’s of course, very exciting that some of the things we have done have opened up new frontiers. Whether it’s the Mars missions or the rings of Saturn or the outer reaches of the solar system. But by making it accessible, by allowing any member of the public to do that mission themselves really connects them more personally with it. Now instead of something they watched on TV, it’s something they personally experienced. And, that’s really powerful for understanding what makes science and technology work. Especially for people who are still choosing their path in life, it gives them a window into a career that they might want to consider pursuing — in science, technology, engineering and math.

Venables: According to NASA figures, there are more than 21,000 pieces of orbital debris larger than 10 cm. currently in Earth orbit. Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels degrade our oceans, agriculture, forestry, ecosystems and human health. How can we create a sustainable model of a space economy in extracting and processing near-Earth natural resources when we’ve largely failed to do on our own planet?

Lewicki: The resources in space that are the most interesting in the near term are the resources that actually help us explore space. These are the water, fuel and elements to support life that are available on near-Earth asteroids. By getting that material from space to use it in space, it’s much like a settler, as they were settling the Americas, of [their] living off the land and not having to bring all their rations with them. So it requires us to launch less stuff into space to create fewer rockets. And to really be able to leverage all those wonderful resources out there in space. With regards to the next step in exploration and development of mining materials in space, we go to great lengths on this planet to get some of the rarest materials, like the platinum metals from the Earth’s crust. And in some cases, that has increasing environmental impact as the materials become more scarce and we have to go deeper into the Earth and create bigger mines. In that case, going to a more plentiful source, in some cases, some of the near-Earth asteroids, allows us to reduce the environmental burden on Earth, and preserve the Earth as more of a special place. Especially since the Earth is literally a tiny crumb in the entire universe in terms of the resources that are accessible to us.

Venables: Prospecting and extracting resources in deep space mining with the ARKYD spacecraft rests on the assumption of investment in the prospective NASA L2 spacelab and other private investments in the new space mining economy. What is your plan to create and maintain government and private investment partnerships to create the necessary infrastructure for this new space economy?

Lewicki: Our business at Planetary Resources certainly would not be possible without the pioneering work of NASA, the U.S. government and other governments in the last 50 years of space exploration. All of the technology that’s been developed, the understanding that we have about our solar system and near-Earth asteroids was something that was a result of the government’s investment. Today we have the opportunity because of technology, because of the cost and private investment, to leverage that infrastructure towards creating a business, creating a new economy and creating new jobs. I see in the future that this, both private investment and government investment, actually continuing in the form of a private-public partnership. NASA has been very successful in finding new ways to do a routine thing — launch payload into low-Earth orbit. And they have partnered with two private businesses, SpaceX and Orbital, to be able to have private companies offer this capability as a service, so that NASA can focus on the more difficult and more challenging things that only the government can do. And I see that as being an excellent model for how we actually can get some of the routine and most basic things done in space science and potentially even use hub space resources towards NASA and other government missions in the future.

Venables: What is your vision for maintaining sustainable near-Earth laboratories and human colonies?

Lewicki: Our mission will be able to be conducted entirely with robotic activities and robotic spacecraft — robotic prospectors, robotic mining equipment that will all be teleoperated by human operators here on Earth. Certainly, what we will be doing in our business will enable and will help support the establishment and supply of what colonies or settlements or laboratories in space may need. We will be part of that overall supplier chain for all of the industries that are developing in space, as humans extend their reach beyond low-Earth orbit deeper into the solar system.

Venables: What is the next step for the ongoing ARKYD development project?

Lewicki: We are in the middle of creating our constellation of ARKYD space telescopes which we are planning to launch in 2015, regardless of the success of the Kickstarter. The Kickstarter was something to augment and to enhance what we are already planning on doing. So we are proceeding with that part of the program and getting our core asteroid prospecting technology available on Earth orbit. The Kickstarter campaign allows us to see if there is public interest and public engagement for really leveraging what the company is already doing, and fulfilling a lot of private interest in what we are doing in that regard. We actually are, at the moment, in the company, working on completing a demonstration of our core spacecraft technology, which we will be launching into space next spring. This is called the ARKYD 3. It is a cubesat, which has our core avionics and pointing and guidance communication technology. That will be something that will be in space next year. We are demoing that technology so that it can be ready for the ARKYD 100 missions that follow the next year in 2015.

Venables: What is your own personal, core motivation to drive the “democratization of space discovery”?

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.